There’s something ceremonial about the words Very Very Special when they appear on an Old Fitzgerald label. The Kentucky bourbon brand, with roots deep in pre-Prohibition soil, has announced its fourth-ever VVS release in the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond Decanter Series: the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 11-Year-Old VVS 2025 Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey.
This latest expression—100 proof, aged just shy of a dozen years, and cloaked in a deep amber glow—arrives with a nose like warm, toasted bread drifting from some small-town bakery, layered with stewed apples. On the palate, there’s the gentle richness of honey and the quiet insistence of baking spices, a profile that reads less like a tasting note and more like a memory.
The barrels for the 2025 VVS were handpicked by Heaven Hill’s Master Distiller, Conor O’Driscoll, from the rickhouse shadows where whiskey waits for someone to decide its fate. The mashbill remains classic Old Fitzgerald—68% corn, 20% wheat, 12% malted barley—but O’Driscoll’s selections are driven by instinct. “We always let our whiskey tell us when it’s ready,” he says. “At 11 years, this one had the complexity and depth we expect from VVS. Not a day more of aging was needed.”
This release follows on the heels of the VVS 2024, which claimed the title of “Best Bourbon in the World” at the World Whiskies Awards. The lineage here matters—VVS isn’t a marketing gimmick so much as a quiet covenant between Heaven Hill and a small but devoted audience that understands rarity and restraint.
The Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 11-Year-Old VVS 2025 lands in maroon-label form, a subtle nod for collectors who can spot it from across a bar shelf. It comes just months after the brand’s first nationwide release, the Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 7-Year-Old, a more accessible expression intended for regular rotation. The VVS, by contrast, is meant for high occasions—births, retirements, weddings, or maybe just that Thursday night you finally decide you’ve earned it.
Like all Bottled-in-Bond whiskeys, it carries both distilling and bottling seasons on the label, meeting the strict federal requirements for proof, age, and authenticity.
The Old Fitzgerald Bottled-in-Bond 11-Year-Old VVS 2025 is available exclusively at the Heaven Hill Bourbon Experience in Bardstown, Kentucky, and select Kentucky retailers, priced at $169.99 for a 750ml decanter.
For more information, visit the brand’s official website.
